Door fastening



Oct 29, 1957 R. TYRER ET AL 2,811,383

DOOR FASTENING Filed Aug. 20, 1953 2 Sheets-Sheet 1 Oct. 29, 1957 R. TYRER EIAL DOOR FASTENING 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 Filed Aug. 20. 1953 m no 0.. Z27

6p ezz/a za/ United States Patent I DOOR FASTENING Ray Tyrer, Kings Heath, Birmingham,.and Alan Howard Henshall, Marston Green, Birmingham, England, assignors to Wilmot-Breeden Limited, Birmingham, England Application August 20, 1953, Serial No. 375,427 Claims priority, application Great Britain August 28, 1952 2 Claims. (Cl. 292341.12)

This invention relates to door fastenings, and particularly vehicle door fastenings of the kind comprising a rotary toothed catch, and a toothed striker engageable with the catch.

When the door is accurately positioned in its frame, and the catch and striker are accurately positioned, the catch engages the striker smoothly on closing the door. But.

- to ensure proper positioning of the door in the vertical direction before the catch engages the striker, which means serve also to prevent relative vertical movement of the door and frame after the door has been closed.

In the accompanying drawings:

Figure l is a front elevation and Figure 2 an end elevation illustrating one embodiment of the invention.

Figures 3 and 4, Figures 5 and 6 and Figures 7 and 8, are respectively similar views to Figures 1 and 2, illustrating three other embodiments of the invention.

Figure 9 is a sectional end elevation illustrating another modified form of the invention, and Figure 10 is a side elevation of the striker plate employed in this modification.

Referring to Figures 1 and 2 there is formed on the striker plate a (which is adapted to be secured to the door frame, and which is provided with teeth b for engaging the rotary toothed catch c on the door) a horizontal channel d which at its entrance end e is bell-mouthed, the channel being open at both ends. Alternatively the said channel may be provided in a part which is separate from a part provided with the teeth c the two parts being adapted to be secured independently to the door frame.

On the outer face of the body part of the fastening secured to the door, is provided a projecting peg which is conveniently of circular form, the diameter of the peg being substantially the same as the width of the channel.

The positions of the peg f and the entrance to the channel d are made such that when closing the door, the peg enters the channel before the catch engages the teeth on the striker, and the interaction of the peg and channel is such that the door is accurately positioned thereby before the catch engages the striker, thus enabling the engagement of catch and striker to be effected smoothly and without shock to the fastening.

In the modified construction shown in Figures 3 and 4, there is combined with the upper edge of the channel d a horizontally slidable wedge g loaded by a spring h. In this case, the peg passes between and is gripped by the lower edge of the wedge and the lower edge of the channel.

In the modification shown in Figures 5 and 6, the peg f 2,811,383 Patented Oct. 29, 1957 issplit'transversely or is made from a pair of. parts having a gap between them, a thin pad i of rubber or rubberlike material, or a spring, being inserted between the parts to -enable the peg to fit the channeltightly and 'so obviate rattlewhen the door is closed.

' In the modification shown in Figures 7 and 8,]there is provided on a part j of the fastener which carries the rotary catch 0, an elongated lateral projection k of dovetail section which is rounded or tapered at the end which first enters the channel d. Preferably the projection is made from two substantially similar parts which are separated in the longitudinal direction, and between them is inserted a thin layer i of rubber or rubber-like material or a spring to compensate the effect of Wear on this projection and to ensure its tight fit in the channel with which the projection co-operates.

On the complementary part which carries or is associated with the striker, there is formed a complementary channel d of dovetail cross section, the entrance end e of the channel being bell mouthed.

The arrangement is such that on closing the door, the rounded or tapered end of the projection enters the bell mouth of the channel and ensures proper positioning of the door before the catch engages the teeth on the striker. When the door is fully closed the projection k occupies the channel d and not only serves to prevent relative movement of the door and frame in the vertical direction but also in the horizontal direction.

The modification shown in Figures 9 and 10 is essentially similar to that shown in Figures 7 and 8 with the exception that the projection k consists of a single piece, and the striker plate is composed of a plurality of parts secured together. Moreover, an opening m is provided in the part of the striker plate along the base of the channel d, and in this opening is mounted a rectangular pad n of rubber or other resilient material which, when the projection k occupies the channel, serves by its action on the adjacent side of the projection to compensate the effect of wear on the latter and ensure its tight fit in the channel. The resilient pad n is carried by and bonded to a sheet metal casing composed of two relatively movable parts 0, p, the part 0 being secured at its edges to the striker plate a, and-the part p forming an abutment surface for the projection k, the forward end of the latter being suitably tapered for enabling the pad to be compressed by the projection as the latter enters the channel d.

Whilst in any of the examples above described it is preferable to mount the projection and channel in the manner above described, their positions may be reversed if desired, in which case the part carrying the striker and the channel is arranged on the part carrying the catch.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent is:

1. A door fastening comprising in combination, a sup port adapted to be secured to a movable member, a rotary toothed catch carried by the support, a toothed striker mounted on a stationary member and the rotary catch being engageable with the striker, said striker being provided with ahorizontal channel having parallel upper and lower edges and having a bell-mouthed entrance at one end of the channel with the outermost face of the outer tooth of the striker lying approximately below the juncture of the bell-mouthed entrance with the horizontal channel, and a cylindrical locating member carried by the support in fixed spaced relationship to the toothed catch I projection is arranged on thesubstantially the width of the channel whereby the locating member will engage a portion of said bell-mouthed entrance and thereby align the locating member with the horizontal channel during said relative movement of the movable and stationary members prior to the interengagement of the teeth of the rotary catch and the striker.

2. A door fastening as claimed in claim 1 wherein a spring-loaded wedge is provided in the upper edge of the said channel for acting on the locating member when such member assumes an appropriate position along and fits between the upper and lower edges of the channel.

References Cited in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS Beyer Feb. 11, Wells June 24, Wells July 5, Butler Jan. 16, Roethel Feb. 28, Roethel Feb. 24, Burris June 9, 

